The Awakening of Jim Bishop — Ben A. Sharpton

Book of the Year (Royal Palm Literary Awards)Fearless, full of heart, loveable characters, and twists and turns that cause you to lose track of time before you realize you're half a dozen chapters in. -Ken Harris, retired FBI and author of The Pine Barrens StrategemJim Bishop is alone. His wife died. He lost his job. His brother is on the west coast. But something else, something different, something new is waiting for him.In uptown Charlotte, the lives of five strangers are bound together as tightly as the twisted metal frame of the bicycle at the center of a horrible hit-and-run accident.A homeless woman watches as a minister tries to comfort the young computer coder who believes he killed the cyclist, while an exhausted nurse and a power-driven CEO slip off into the night.As Jim begins to rebuild his life, a strange vagrant helps guide him to the five people involved in the accident, revealing the dangerous secrets and vulnerabilities threatening to destroy each one. Someone has a gun. Someone has been physically abused. A relationship desperately needs mending. Someone will die.Jim finds himself in situations with his new friends he never expected, giving him opportunities he never saw coming, providing new meaning in ways he never could have imagined.Filled with tragedy and promise, The Awakening of Jim Bishop is a powerful and moving story of loss, hope and healing sure to provoke thought long after the last page is turned.